Trans-atlantic experimental orchestral group The Flowers of Hell are set to
release their fourth album and first ever orch-pop cover record, Odeson October 2nd in Canada/US
via Optical Sounds and The Orchard. Known for their non-linear instrumentals,
this is the first time The Flowers of Hell will release music featuring
lyrics or verse-chorus-verse structures. Their current and past work has
established them as an “artist’s artist”, with praise having come from
members of My Bloody Valentine,
Spiritualized, Spacemen 3, The Wedding Present, Death In Vegas, The Patti Smith Group, The Fugs and Laurie
Anderson amongst others. Odes
features The Flowers’ interpretations of songs written by Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Siouxie & The
Banshees, Laurie Anderson, Klaatu, Stereolab, Joy Division, Neutral Milk
Hotel, Fleetwood Mac, and the
Plastic People Of The Universe. The group will launch the album in
Toronto on September 21st at Tranzac.

Today they unveil the animated
video for their version of Joy
Division’s ‘Atmosphere’, viewable
here. The video brings to life Joy
Division’s legendary Unknown Pleasures
album cover, which is an image of the electromagnetic pulses emanating from a
dying star in the Vulpecula constellation.

Based in Toronto and London, with
a revolving membership of 16 or so musicians, the Flowers Of Hell are led by
Canadian synaesthette Greg Jarvis
who co-produced the album with Peter
Moore (John Cale, Neil Young,
Cowboy Junkies). The album includes collaborations with Czech dissident
musician Ivo Pospíšil, a key
member of The Plastic People Of The Universe’s many offshoot groups, as well
as British Sea Power’s Neil Wilkinson and Abi Fry (the latter being a founding
member of the Flowers Of Hell and a two times Mercury Prize nominee through
her past work in BSP and Bat For Lashes).

Odes differs
greatly in its tone and direction from previous Flowers’ releases. 2010’sOwas an epic 45 minute
abstract piece that sought to break beyond traditional songwriting; this time
the group do the opposite, celebrating songs as penned by their favourite writers. Each song covered on Odes
was selected for a purpose. Jarvis had often wondered whatNeutral Milk Hotel’s On Avery Island-April 1st might sound
like if played by a classically trained trumpeter. Joy Division’s Atmosphere is a core influence on The
Flowers of Hell’s style and it’s been done here with their signature sound. Muchomůrky
Bílé (Destroying Angel) is the unofficial anthem of the old Czech
dissident movement and one of the original musicians from that scene, Ivo Pospíšil, agreed to do the
vocals. With Walk On The Wild Side the
group used the lyrics from a rare Lou
Reed demo taped before its classic verses were written. On O Superheroin, they celebrate the
marriage of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson buy marrying O Superman and Heroin. Calling Occupants
Of Interplanetary Craft was written by 1970s Toronto outsiders Klaatu, with lyrics from a paragraph
that the International Flying Saucer Bureau’s global members tried to
simultaneously telepath into outer space in 1953.

“Orchestrating
things like the 5 key changes in Calling Occupants was a challenge as we
don’t use sheet music.” explains Jarvis who has no classical
training, His orchestration process is to record multiple layers of
improvised performances which are then edited into an arrangement, based on
what looks right in his synaesthetic layer of vision. “It’s a tedious process but I think it lets one tap into a string
players’ passion much better than notes being read off a page.”